Zarif says JCPOA survival depends on EU

If the nuclear deal is preserved, the interests of the people of Iran must be guaranteed, " said the Iranian foreign Minister.

Iran and China are two friendly countries with strategic partnership which have stood by each other, Zarif said, adding that Iran and China have full cooperation in all areas and Beijing is Tehran's biggest trade partner.

Iran has said it would remain in the JCPOA for now, pending negotiations with the other signatories in the coming weeks before making a final decision on its future role in the agreement.

Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister, said he feared that European Union negotiations with Mr Zarif and later with...

"I hope and believe that these visits to multiple countries will improve countries', including China's, understanding of Iran's position", Wang said.

China was closely involved in negotiating the agreement as one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and has always been a close Iranian economic partner, buying about a third of Iran's oil shipments.

It reiterated that Iran was preparing to resume "industrial-scale" uranium enrichment "without any restrictions" unless Europe provided solid guarantees that it could maintain trade ties despite renewed U.S. sanctions.

JCPOA was implemented in 2016 after five permanent members of UN Security Council, China, France, Russia, United Kingdom and U.S. plus Germany reached an agreement with Rouhani's government to lift worldwide sanctions imposed on the Islamic Republic in exchange for Tehran to curb its nuclear program.

Khamenei said last week he was highly doubtful that Europe would provide the "real guarantees" needed for Iran to stay in the nuclear deal.

Meanwhile, European diplomats in Tehran fumed that Trump's decision to withdraw from the deal could undermine years of patient work to restore commercial and diplomatic ties with the Islamic Republic.

Trump has said that he would reinstate USA nuclear sanctions on Iran and impose "the highest level" of economic bans on the Islamic Republic.

He added if the European powers were unable to make guarantees, "we must choose the path of self-sufficiency and nuclear industry with our own capabilities".

The challenge for Rouhani is to maintain his diplomatic efforts in the face of mounting challenges at home, where Iranians were already suffering high unemployment and inflation before Trump's decision.

The US will re-impose sanctions on Iran and firms dealing with it could be hit, angering signatories like France.